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Saturday, 31 December 2016

Oh 2016, you
fucker. Before you think I’m going to start on about all the celebrity losses we’ve
had this year, fear not, that’s not where I’m going with this at all. I’m sat
here in my pyjamas lamenting over the end of this year and what I want from
life in general for the next one.

I feel like 2016
has been a bit of a blurgh kind of year, I wanted to say it won’t be one that
stands out for anything in particular but after speaking to my sister who is
pretty frank with me, it ain’t all been bad. The year started pretty awesomely
with my 30th birthday (I’m still horrified that I’m 30), I went with
a big group of friends to Dublin for the weekend and it was such a blast! Full
of Irish dancing, Guinness and laughs. I also met a man this summer and got my dream
job in September which I am loving. However my mum has been seriously ill which
has been stressful and had a big knock on to my own health. I’ve been poorly
for about 3 months with my thyroid and have zero energy and motivation which
has been horrendous as isn’t me at all.

Over
all I feel that this year has been hard and a little stagnant and ive been
pretty lost. So 2017, I’m coming for you, I want to make you a year that I
remember for all the right reasons, that I laugh till I wet myself on a regular
basis, that I spend time in the moment, that I appreciate all the small things.
I feel that I have been ploughing through life lately with no real reason other
than to get through the day. I want to stop and enjoy life and that’s the plan for
2017. Nothing big just being grateful for all the good things in lif

Thursday, 29 December 2016

2016 has
been the year I’ve had to bite the bullet and accept that I needed glasses (insert
horrified face emoji here). I think a mix of using screens more and turning 30 has
hit my poor blinkers and I’ve gone from having pretty ace eyesight to squinting
whenever I try and read something!! If I didn’t cave and get glasses I would
have needed a severe amount of Botox to get rid of the lines from trying to
focus!

Anyway
around the same time I decided to embrace being a speccy four eyes I received an
email from the lovely folk at The
Glasses Shop asking if I would like to chose a pair from their range and I just
jumped at the chance!

The Glasses Shop has a huge range of glasses
and sunglasses at pretty cheap prices! I was a little nervous about ordering
prescription glasses online but the whole process was pretty easy. I decided to
go for the Horace Wayfarer
glasses in Tortoise shell which sells for $34.95. I just filled in my info
and let them know my prescription for each eye.

I was really
surprised they arrived really quickly from America and they are great! They are
really good quality and very stylish. I think there fun and slightly quirky
too. Very me! I am a little in love with them!

Have you
ever ordered prescription glasses online before? I would definitely be doing
this in the future! I felt a bit rushed when I was choosing at the opticians
and there wasn’t much choice. This way meant I could take my time and find the
perfect pair!

Wednesday, 21 December 2016

What feels
like ages now, I signed for Char over at T
Rexes and Tiaras #BloggersSecretSanta. I love a secret Santa, I find it so
fun becoming a bit of a social media spy (I was going to say stalker but that
makes me sound a little nuts!!) and figuring out what they may or may not like.
I was given Hazel who blogs at World
of Joy. Her blog is beautiful so would deffo recommend heading over there
to take a peek! I decided to treat her to a little pamper package which you can
check out on her blog here.

My own #BloggersSecretSanta
parcel arrived this morning and it is so perfect!! I was this stunning Gin
necklace – if you pop by here regularly you will know I am a huge Gin lover and
my Santa got it so right! My awesome Santa was Alex at Eat Play Pixels and I would like to say a
massive Thank You her! I love the necklace and am pretty sure its going to be
one of my key accessories this holiday season!

Monday, 19 December 2016

I was going
to write this post a few weeks ago but life got in the way! Decembers always
super hectic for me and even with the best intentions I have been shocking at
getting shit done! I am so behind its unreal! So I had a little debate with
myself as to whether it was too late to write about this but to hell with it, I
had a great day at this and wanted to share it with you all!

What am I
waffling on about this time? Well let me tell you... As you may or may not be
aware, I have my own Etsy Shop
and a few weeks ago I attend the Dorset Etsy teams Christmas fair which was
held in Wimborne and supported by Etsy Made Local. I had a stand
for my shop Pearl
Divine and had a blast. It was the first Dorset Team event I have attended
and I was blown away by how friendly and lovely the other team members/stall holders
were.

I was a bit
nervous to begin with as wasn’t sure what to expect but I had such a great day
and cant wait to sign up for next years event already! The event as a whole was
a huge success with 70 stalls and with over 2000 people through the doors! The
quality of produce available was immense and I feel really proud to be part of
the team. There was so many talented stall holders and you can check out the
full list of them here.
I Would definitely recommend having a browse!

P.S as a bit
of a thank you and as I’m super feeling in the holiday spirit I’m offering 20%
off EVERYTHING in my Pearl Divine
shop until the 31st January 2017. Just use the code ‘ THANKYOU20
‘ at the checkout! Go on you know you want to treat yourself....

Sunday, 18 December 2016

The one week countdown to Christmas begins!! Wahoo!! Love
this time of year and I’m especially looking forward to the next week as I have
lots of Christmas catch ups coming up! So this past week just gone I’ve been
really trying to get in the Christmas spirit, so I thought id share with you
what I’ve been doing to get in the Christmas mood...

First up, one of my awesome friends is an amazing artist and
crafter and put on a wreath making class. It was two hours full of moth, holly
and mulled wine. A ridiculously fun evening! I’ve never made a home made wreath
before and am so happy with what I ended up with.

Every year I get Xmas themed nails and I love them! I usually go for bright and tacky but this year I wanted something a big more classy so went for black nails with white nail art and its perfect. Its understated and has a vintage feel.

I have a bit of a tradition lf making home made Gin which I then hand out as a present to various people This year I went for strawberry flavoured Gin and I’m really pleased with the results, itis yummy! After a few months of brewing and agitating it, this week I was time to decent not bottles ready to hand out for Christmas.

We also finally put up our Christmas tree!! I went for a gold theme and It looks great, even if I do say so myself. I just had to share this photo, how cute do my puppies look framing the tree!!

Thursday, 1 December 2016

I bloody love Christmas and am beyond excited about it this
year! This time last year I was in Australia and completely missed the build up
to Christmas and that is my favourite bit! So I am planning to make the most of
it. I’ve really been reigning it in nut now its officially the 1st
December I feel like I am going to completely go all tinsel and fairy lights on
everyone! I have seen this ‘Fifteen Festive Favourites’ on a few blogs lately and
thought I would share mine with you all....

1.Favourite Festive Food

Turkey dinner with all the trimmings! My
dad makes the best roast dinners and his Christmas dinner never fails to disappoint!

2.Favourite Reindeer

Rudolph – he has a shiny nose and he saved Christmas!

3.Favourite Day of Christmas

Christmas eve – its full of excitement and
dropping off presents to friends. Such a magical day!

4.Favourite Christmas Song

This is the easiest question! It has to be ‘Fairy-tale
of New York’. It is THE best Christmas tune!

5.Favourite Present

My friends got me a The special edition set
of Harry Potter books a few years ago anf it meant so much to me and showed how
well they knew me.

6.Favourite Festive Film

Its a wonderful life – its not Christmas
till I’ve watched it.

7.Favourite Festive Cracker Toy

Tje fish that can read your emotions! You
know the one where the head and tail curls up? Always provides a few minutes of
entertainment.

8.Favourite Cracker Joke

What does Miley Cyrus have at Christmas? Twerk.....

9.Favourite Christmas Decoration

This is a tie between fairy lights and the
big star on top of the tree.

10.Favourite Christmas Candle Scent

‘Snow in Love’ a Yankee candle scent.

11.Favourite Christmas TV Advert

The Coca Cola advert!!! Its not Christmas till
this has popped up!

12.Favourite Festive Tradition

I’m not we have any particular traditions
but getting everyone together on Christmas day is pretty special.

13.Favourite Place to Spend Christmas

Anywhere all my family are! I think its
more about the people rather than the place.

14.Favourite Christmas Fact

The chances of us actually having a white Christmas
here in the UK is 1 in 10. I think that’s not too bad, I would love a white
xmas!!!

Monday, 21 November 2016

I was diagnosed with SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
around 2 years ago also known as the winter blues. I really struggle once
Autumn hits but this weekend it's worse than ever! I've had a to do list I
really wanted to tackle this weekend but yesterday I pretty much slept all day.
I have zero motivation at the moment, I feel low and exhausted and it's hard,
real hard. If you know, this isn't me at all and I like to be busy and social
but right now I just want to hide under my duvet. So this is why I'm sat in
front of my computer screen, I want to tackle this head on. No medical
expert but I know what helps me and who knows it may help one of you too. I
feel if I put pen to paper or in this are print to screen, I have a plan and it
may help so here's how I'm gonna stand up to my SAD this week....

1. Fix my lumi light! - if you haven't heard of this these
then your missing out! It's a light that wakes you up with a fabricated natural
light instead of an alarm. It's fantastic and does really help! I know what
your thinking though.... If it really helps why isn't it working now? Well my
friend, because I've been feeling so shit I haven't even had the energy to
change the time settings on it since the clocks went back a few weeks ago now
so it's been out of action. That's how unmotivated I've been. So tonight I'm
gonna push myself to sort it out and fix it!

2. Running - since autumns kicked in my runs have gradually
come to a halt. I've got my first half marathon in March and really need to
have a giant kick up the arse!! The wonderful thing about SAD is you feel
exhausted so I've barely done any of my usual exercise so I've gone from 6 gym
sessions and 3 runs a week to just 2 gym sessions. This is bonkers as I find
exercise really clears my head, is my number one stress reliever and I get such
a buzz after it. So this week I'm gonna really push myself and run every other
day. 3. Diet - so when you feel lower than low you either don't
want to eat at all or want to eat EVERYTHING and I mean everything wrong! These
last few weeks I've either not eaten or just been eating toast, crisps and
sausage rolls and for someone who tries to eat mainly clean and unprocessed
foods it's definitely playing havoc with my body! I feel massively bloated - I
am literally one Dorito away feel someone asking when my food baby is due! I
know it won't be helping my energy levels either so this week I'm cutting out
the junk and furlong myself properly...

4. Relax! - I get super stressed and pissed off as I like to
get things done, to be busy, to achieve things but when you have SAD getting
out of bed is a huge achievement let alone doing anything else. I need to let
that go, listen to my body a bit more and chill!

5. Embrace Autumn! - ok so I actually really like this time
of year. I like the autumn evenings, the chill in the air, the pretty colours
of the leaves. I just hate the way having SAD makes me feel. But do you know
what it is the time of year for hibernating and cosying up at home and I think
I need to be cool with that! I run around like a blue ass fly most of the time
so actually maybe my mind is telling me to switch off.Wish me luck with this!

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

I haven’t done a life lately post in so
long! I really enjoy doing them so thought I would throw one T you guys today!
So here’s what’s been happening in my word lately!

1.Game of Thrones –
okay so I am like 10 years behind everyone but I’ve finally got round to
watching this awesome show and I can’t believe I waited so long! I have real
issues sitting and watching box sets when the weathers nice and I can be out. I
get such bad FOMO. This leads to a massive ‘to watch list’ ready for the
autumnal months when all I want to do I hibernate! I don’t feel as guilty
hiding away at this time of year. Anyways, I’ve just finished season 3, my gorgeous
Rob Stark has just met his death and I’m traumatized and unsure if I can carry
on. However I’m assured it keeps getting better and better, I just need to
learn not to get attached to ANY characters!

2.Leopard Print- I
bloody love leopard print and always have, however I feel this may have
escalated lately! I picked up this gorgeous faux leather jacket from New Look
the other day on a whim. Its a beauty, I love the leopard print collar. I’m definitely
going to be adding to my leopard print collection over the next few months..

3.Arrow –another box set I’m indulging in...I am half way season through season 3 and
have the worlds biggest crush on Oliver Queen -he is FIT. If you love a good
old vigilante story then I definitely recommend this for you! He’s topless ALOT
which also helps!

4.Fireworks – or autumn
in general! I suffer from SAD so really struggle brain wise but still love all
the aspects of autumn especially fireworks night! I love a good fireworks show
and last Saturday was no different! I went down to our local beach with some
friends to watch a display. It was a great evening. There’s something very magical
about fireworks and k love the cold crisp air of this time of year.

5.CHRISTMAS -OMG I
am beyond excited for Christmas already!!! I have started Xmas shopping and
have been writing my Christmas cards already! This time last year I was on a beach
in Oz which was awesome but I really missed the build up to Christmas which I love
way more than the actual day itself! So I am planning to make the most of it
this year!

6.Diet Coke – if you
follow this blog on a regular basis you will know I have a slight addiction to
diet coke... I drink waaay too much of the stuff but you can currently buy Diet
Coke and do a bit of a good deed in doing so as Diet Coke has paired up with
Asda to support Tickled Pink, to raise money for Breast Cancer Care and Breast
Cancer Now. I cause that means a lot to me. They have 58,000 limited edition 30 can Diet Coke
multipacks available exclusively in Asda and 40p from
each purchase will go towards Tickled Pink... so if you fancy a doing our bit,
pick up a pack!

Sunday, 30 October 2016

This summer I organised
a hen do for one of my gal pals. I have been to many a hen do but this was the
first time I organised one! We ended up having a weekend away at a beautiful
lodge with a hot tub and we spent the day at a spa. It was perfect and everyone
had a fabulous time! However being the organiser was an eye opener! It made me
realise some people are pure bonkers, I am waaay to polite and people love
sharing their opinion.... so I thought it would be fun to share a few tips,
words of wisdom if you will, for anyone who may have the pleasure of organising
a hen do themselves sometime soon....

• find out what the brides dream hen do entails, if there
was something she hates or something she has always wanted mow is the time to
find out! I was told no willies from the start!

• Its not about you! Put your perfect weekend/night out into
your back pocket and leave it there. Its all about the beautiful bride!

• Its the little things – I surprised the bride with a
personalised ‘bride to be’ dressing gown and slippers at the spa and a got her
a customised ‘mrs..... to be’ pj set! She loved it and those touches made it
seem a lot more special.

• find out if there are any ‘tricky’ invitees. If they are
all your mates and you know them well then you are very jammy! I had to deal
with friends and family I had never met and who deemed it appropriate to ring
me at 6am to tell me they refused to share a room with certain people! Real
story.

• know your hen party! I had to cater for mums and god mums and
was warned blow up willies were a no no! My bride was also tee-total so going
to a cocktail making class (as one of the other bridesmaid actually
suggested!!!) was a no go!

• Sort out the money early on! For two reasons – you don’t
want to be left out of pocket and you don’t want the cost for everyone else doubling!
Work out a total cost early on and add a few pounds on to cover any extras. So
everything was paid for a couple of months in advance and included everything!
Trust me this will save you so much agro later on!

• Have a plan before contacting everyone. Giving options is a
terrible mistake! People have an opinion on everything, no one will want to do
the same thing and everyone will want a different price range. Give a plan and
limited options! All for an easy life!

• Have a back up plan – make sure you have a few spare games
to play if you need to fill any time up as well as make sure you have a back up
plan for any activities just in case anything goes wrong!

• And finally the most important tip I can give you is to
learn to smile and bite your tongue! You cant please everyone, just focus on
making the bride happy!

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

I love
checking out upcycling projects on Pinterest and various blogs and I love a
good crafting session, however I’ve never been brave enough to take on a piece of
furniture and upcycle it myself. This is, until now!

My poor bedside
table was purchased from B&Q about 8 years ago and has followed me round
many numerous accommodations’ and as you can imagine was looking a little
battered! The white paint on the top surface was peeling off and compared to my
other pieces of furniture (its a giant mish mash of various pieces) it didn’t
really fit anymore. So I decided to challenge myself and see what I could
create, I figured it couldn’t look any worse than it already!

I’ve got a
thing about the colour pink at the moment, after many years of being a tom boy I
am finally embarrassing the colour and I love it! I’ve unconsciously been
gaining more and more pink things for my bedroom and it now got a pink and grey
theme happening. So I decided to fully embrace that and incorporate it into my
cabinet. I therefore chose to go for a baby pink base with a marbled top.

To get the
look, I decided spray paint would be a lot easier than actual paint, which I think
is true but you may get a nicer Finnish with paint? Unsure on that one! I was
patient, very unlike me I know and used a spray paint primer as a base. I did a
couple of coats of this to make sure it was even. Once the primer was dry I
then used the pink spray paint, and did three coats over all. I think finished it
with a clear gloss top coat.

For the top I
found some marble print laminate sticky paper in B&Q. I absolutely love
this stuff and think it looks fab! It was quite easy to apply, you just need to
make sure you squish all the air bubbles out!

I love the
final look so much! On pay day my plan is to treat myself to a industrial style
pink table lamp to Finnish off the look! What do you all think? Are you an upcycler?

Thursday, 18 August 2016

Firstly, hello! Is anyone still out there? If so how are you? And boy have I missed you! I don't think I've properly blogged in over a year. I've tried dipping in and out in that time but nothing's really inspired me to keep at it. I love blogging so much but life has just massively got in the way and blogging always felt like a big commitment and as I couldn't commit to it as much as I liked I stopped. Which is silly really as blogging was always a good outlet for me and I shouldn't put so much pressure on myself about it.

Anyways, where have I been? Well let me start with where I am now. I currently lying on a bed in Portugal on day 3 of a 10 day holiday feeling pretty sorry for myself. For the past 24 hours I've felt pretty rough. I've got a really horrible headache and keep getting dizzy spells and I feel exhausted. I think I'm just ill but I keep wondering if I've just burnt myself out lately and it's led to this. My anxiety is back with a vengeance too which I haven't experienced in a long while and I feel ridiculously low.

So what's led to this? Well I think a huge number of things. I genuinely can't remember the last time I had a weekend off, one where I could be lazy and do nothing. Life has beyond hectic, I have 3 jobs, there's been friends wedding, hen parties to organize, I care for my mum and I also work out on average 8 times a week. I've also started seeing someone I really like but it's long distance so I've been questioning that tons. My brain feels like it's going to implode. I am exhausted.

And all of this makes me laugh, as non of its things I don't want to do. However I feel like I'm working my backside off and still getting nowhere. I'm 30 and live in my parents loft. I'm skint, like ridiculously skint and I feel like I'm stuck. I'm at that age where all my friends are getting married, having babies and buying houses. Which is awesome but I'm nowhere near any of that. Which is not necessarily a bad thing but I'm also hugely aware that my life isn't moving forward.

So therefore I've arrived on holiday with my lovely friend and her son and I think it's hit me with an almighty whack. They've gone to the beach and I'm laying in bed feeling sorry for myself. I feel like I can't switch my brain off and that trying to stop and chill out is so unknown to my body that I'm
In this mess. I'm hoping a day of rest, naps and lots of water will do some magic and tomorrow I'll be as right as rain.

What a messy first blog post back in a while! I forgot how therapeutic getting my thoughts out into this little space on the Internet can be.

Friday, 13 May 2016

So if you’re a regular
here at Lipsticks and Lashes you will know I adore sending lovely things in the
post and I am also a complete book worm! I can’t think of anything better than
getting lost in a book, I adore it. This has also lead to piles of books filling
my house!

Around this time last
year here on ‘Lipsticks and Lashes’ I ran a book swap and had so much fun doing
doing so that I thought I would do it again this year! This concept stemmed from
the fact that I am always keen to find new books and authors that I will fall
in love with and putting all of this together I had a bit of an idea! A rather
glorious light bulb moment!

LET’S DO A BOOK SWAP!!

So here’s the plan...
I will collect everyone’s info and I will then email you a person who you need
to send two books too. I will try and match you to someone who has similar
tastes, this may not work completely but I will try!

So TWO books –
the first has to be one of YOUR favourite ever books, one you want to
rave about and share! The second is to be one you think that person may enjoy
and suits their tastes.

With me so far?

The two books should
be ones you have at home and are just passing forward. If you spot a cool book
in a charity shop you think your person may enjoy then that’s great too. I
don’t want this swap to cost much money – ideally the only pennies spent should
be on postage!

Friday, 15 April 2016

Welcome to the Spring round of The Bloggers Snail
Mail!! Wahoo! I love this project so
much and
I’ve met so many awesome bloggers through this project and want it to continue
in 2016 so spread the word, tell all your friends, let’s make this a round to
remember!

So
here is how it works: A
quarterly gift exchange where you can meet other bloggers from around the world
and spread a bit of positivity! People get paired up in February, May, August
and November. During the sign up period, every participant will be paired with
one other new participant and you’ll spend a few weeks becoming BFFs (i.e.
reading each other’s blogs, sending happy e-mails, you name it!). After that,
you’ll send your partner a gift from your country that you think they may like
from the info you now know about them. There’s a £5 limit on the gifts to make
this project as affordable as possible. Be as creative as you can and make it
meaningful! Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about
them, and make them feel special! We could all use a little encouragement,
especially from our new friends. Also, each package should include a postcard
(or a letter if you can’t find one!) with some motivating love or positive
words of wisdom written all over it.

So to sign up for the ‘The Bloggers Snail
Mail’ you just need to send an email to whatsinyourmakeupbag@gmail.com, title
it ‘The Bloggers Snail Mail’ and include in it your name, where you are from,
and your blog! Sign ups will be open until the Friday 29th
April. I will then randomly match you all up aiming to make sure you
are with someone from another country or at least in another area from you! I
will then let you know by Monday 2nd May who your partner is and you
then have 4 weeks to get to know them! So the week of the 30th May,
you can then send your new buddy their Snail Mail

Once you receive your
gifts, write a blog post about your experience, sharing what you gave,
received, and learnt through this being part of this and meeting your new pal.

If you want to tweet
about this project, use the hashtag #TheBloggersSnailMail, You can also tag me
@GemmaMarieJames and ill retweet your post, so everyone can share your
experience!

Please only sign up if
you definitely are willing to take part and if you want to be matched with
someone from the same country as you to save on postage then please let me
know!!

Also please share this post and let all your
friends know about this project, it would be great to get as many people
involved as possible!

Monday, 4 April 2016

You may remember my ‘Health & Fitness Roundup’ posts from
the beginning of last year, well they are back! I found it super helpful to put
out there how I’m getting on and it helped me to keep focused.

I have been over weight for a long time, I have an under active
thyroid which doesn’t help matters but at the end of the day I have eaten way
too much of the wrong things! It definitely affects my confidence and self
esteem and I don’t want to live like that anymore. Over the past year I have
massively got into my fitness but my nutrition lets me down and has meant the
weight doesn’t budge much. I want to feel fitter and healthier, I want to feel
confident in my own skin. So each month I am going to share with you all how I
am getting on, so here goes...

Food...

I feel like I have finally seen the light with this one! I have
started eating clean, meaning my diet mainly consists of single ingredient foods
and no caffeine, sugar, wheat or alcohol. I stuck to his religiously before I went
to Australia and lost a stone. I also found that I felt a thousand times
better, I had more energy, my eczema disappeared and my thyroid levelled out.
It was amazing! But then Australia, Christmas, my30th and a mass of
social occasions happened and I fell off the wagon big time. Nightmare! However
I’m finally back on it and have been pretty good this month up until the last
week as I’ve been on leave and do you know what, I don’t want to not be able to
have a life, so I’ve been pretty naughty but I’m ready to go back to being good
next week. I’ve also been doing a massive food prep session on a Sunday evening
so I’m all ready for the week ahead. As I juggle 2 jobs I find that I’m sometimes
in a rush or too tired to go so I eat crap on the go, so prepping for the week ahead
I have no excuses any more! I think I’m also going to post some of my clean recipes
on here to share with you all!

Exercise...

Boot camp x 8 sessions

Physiques x12 sessions

Runs x 12

I’m still doing my boot camp which is a circuits class, I do 2
sessions a week and I’ve been doing it for over a year! I think its the longest
I’ve ever stuck at any form of exercise! The guys who run it also run a
physiques class which is a ladies weight lifting class which I’ve joined and
been doing 3 times a week. Before this I had never lifted weights in my life
and I LOVE IT!!

I’m also still going at the running, I’m horrendously bad at
it!I really wish I could improve but I am
so slow and regularly have to stop and walk 1whilst other runners lap me! Mortifying!
Saying that though, I’ve signed to do another 10k this summer and I’ve signed
up to do a half marathon in October, bonkers I know!!! I can barely run 5 k at
the mo but I need to have aims to keep me motivated!

I’ve also signed up to do another tough mudder at the end of
April, I loved it last year it was such an amazing experience! However everyone
I’m doing it with are amazing runners and I’m terrified I’m going to be left
behind!

Progress...

Chest: -0”

Hips: -2”

Thighs: left -0.5” Right -0”

Bottom: -0”

Arms: Left -0” Right -0”

Waist: -0.5”

Weight loss this month: 6lb

Total Weight loss: 6lb

I am pretty chuffed with this month’s progress! On average I’ve
not lost many inches and I’m 6lbs down! Over all I need to lose 4 stone, I am
hoping I can achieve this by the end of the year, fingers crossed!

Saturday, 2 April 2016

I was about to sit down and start this post with what’s become
a bit of a familiar starting point around here....sorry I’ve not blogged in
like forever... waaaa what a shit way to start a post and it got me thinking,
whys it become such a regular point round here?

Have I fallen out of love with blogging? Can I still be
classed as a blogger when my posts have gone from 3 times a week to once a
month or sometimes even longer? Even worse, have me and blogging split up? Is this
a break up?

Lets start from the beginning, I started blogging 3 and a
half years ago and up until a year ago I was hooked, if I wasn’t writing a blog
post I was either taking photographs for said post, joining in all the twitter
blog chats or sending and receiving blog emails. It was BLOG LOVE central over
here! When I started blogging I wasn’t in a great place, I was bored, lonely
and if I’m honest, completely lost. It sounds cringey and dramatic but blogging
kind of saved me. Honest to god, it really rescued me rom a dark place. Blogging
gave me a massive confidence boost, it gave me that creative outlet I was
desperately in need of and gave me a sense of purpose.

Over the past year I have been spending more and more time
focusing on my fitness and this has left less time for my magical little space
on the internet. My life has been work, gym, sleep, repeat with a good spoonful
of socialising thrown in for fun. Life has been pretty grand.

I know this post is starting to ramble but I think its a
personal post for me to clarify my thoughts and feelings and I guess I’m trying
to figure out if bloggings done its job in my life and we are over? I truly believe
we are blessed to have things come into our lives a the right moment and that
sometimes its for a certain purpose and when the jobs done off it pops again.
Has blogging given me the boost I needed and now I no longer need it?

I don’t think I’ve fallen out of love with blogging as I still
read blogs every day and I have a long list of post ideas that I’m constantly
adding too. Its just time and that horrendous guilt feeling of not spending
enough time as I would like writing. I do finally have a new laptop so I can
spend a bit more time online now which is a bit of a blessing.

I think perhaps me and blogging have been on a break and I’m
going to start dipping my toes in, having a few dates with it and see how I get
on! I don’t want to give up on bloggingjust yet, I just need to take the pressure off and remember what u love
about it!

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

HOLY SHIT! I’ve been 30 for 2 and a half weeks!! Waaaaaaah!!
This absolutely terrifies me as for numerous reasons. I think this is partly
due to the fact I think in my head I’m still 17, I certainly don’t feel mature
enough to 30. 10 years ago if you asked me what I thought I would be doing ten
years from now my reply would have been along the lines of ‘be in a job I love,
own a house, married with babies’, damn you Disney for making me want the fairy
tale! Instead of any of this I’m now 30 and live in my parents loft and am in a
bit of a rut. I guess I also thought I would have achieved a lot more by now.
Don’t me wrong I have no regrets, I don’t believe in them and have had the most
awesome experiences, travelled to some incredible places so I really can’t
complain. My life is pretty great I just need some changes and new challenges and
that’s where this 30 before 30 list stemmed from.

I also better state for the record that turning 30 is definitely
not the end of the world, it has been ridiculously fun so far and I think I am
going to like my flirty thirties. I am feeling confident and happy and can’t
wait to see what the future holds!

So if you’ve been a visitor to Lipsticks and Lashes for a
while, you will know that for all the reasons above, a year and a half ago I created
a bucket list of 30 things I would love to achieve before I turn 30. It was a
wide variety of things that I have wanted to do for a while but for whatever
reason have been a lame ass and haven’t done yet. They were all things that I felt
would help me make the most of life and make me a better person. Now I am 30 I thought
id better give you all the low down of how I got on with completing my bucket
list, so here’s where I got to…

1. Start dating... yeah, so, umm, I went on numerous dates and
they were all a bit disastrous and I am pretty adamant now there are no nice
men on dating websites, they are either bonkers, needy or just wanting to send
you willy pictures. So anyone know where I can meet a nice, funny, handsome man
without going on tinder or pof then please shout! All tips greatly received!

2. Go indoor skydiving. I so nearly did this a while back
when I was in Manchester!
Sadly there just wasn’t enough time to do it! I’m going to definitely ass this
to my 40 before 40 list!

3. Cook one dish a week from scratch... I smashed this one!
Wahoo! Over the past 6 months I’ve really embraced clean eating and am feeling
so much better for it! My eczema has cleared up my under active thyroid seems
to have levelled out and I have so much more energy. This means I am cooking
from scratch, I usually do a massive batch cook on a Sunday now so I can’t
slack in the week when I am juggling two jobs and don’t have time to cook.

4. Say yes more! To any opportunities that come my way. –
This is an ongoing one and I think I’ve been embracing it pretty well! It’s a
great way to put myself out there more and I have had so much fun doing this! I
do love this one and it’s definitely going to be continued, it’s pushed me out
of my comfort zone and allowed me to experience new things.

5. Learn to long board – I have a long board and am working
on it! I am a giant wimp and keep jumping off before I think I’m going to fall
off! I have zero sense of balance so it’s been fun! I even had a little skate
crew going in the summer which was so much fun, especially when we followed it
with hot chocolates in the pub garden!

6. Try a roller derby – Failed this! Boo!

7. Visit Disney World in Florida. Hmm I think this one will be
scooting over to my 40 before 40 list as I had no funds to pull this one off!
Or any annual leave left to take it with for that matter!

8. Start a ‘grateful’ diary and record 3 things I am happy
for every day. – So I started this one but then kind of failed miserable! I
just keep forgetting to do it! It has made me realize how important it is to
take a moment every so often to appreciate things a bit more, especially when
I’m having a bad day!

9. Buy a house – Nope definitely not done this, still in the
parents freezing loft….

11. Start a successful Etsy Shop – a work in progress! Its up
and running now (Check out Pearl Divine here) and I am constantly adding new
bits, so I hope with hard work it may become successful!

12. Write a book – I’ve started writing and I love it, just
wish there was hours in a day so I could get more done!

13. Live abroad for a month – COMPLETED!! This was awesome!
I spent last November in Australia
(Blog posts coming soon, I promise!) and it was magical! I spent two weeks on
the Gold Coast for a friends wedding, a week in Sydney
a week in Ayres Rock and a week in Melbourne.
To say I am still suffering with post holiday blues would be an understatement!

14. Get down to a clothing size 12 – I have dropped a stone
and a dress size but still not near a size 12, however I am feeling a thousand
times more body confident than when I first wrote this, which I thinks an
achievement in itself!

15. Run a 10k – COMPLETED! In a respectable 1hour and 20
mins! My next challenge is a half marathon…. From someone who couldn’t run 2 minutes
without collapsing when I started in May last year, I am pretty pleased with
this one!

16. Do a painting on a canvas – I am behind with this one! I
have bought a canvas and some neon acrylic paints!! I can’t wait to have a play
with them. If it looks half decent I might even share the final painting here!

17. Go to a music festival – COMPLETED!! I went to a small
festival called Blissfield’s last weekend for a friends hen do! I had the best
time and determined to head to a few more next year!

18. Visit Machu Piccu – Lack of funds mean this hasn’t happened…
YET! Its definitely one I have to do!

19. Fall in love and be loved – see no1

20. See the northern lights – not yet

21. Visit Ireland
– DONE! I was super lucky and for my 30th birthday we ticked this
one off by heading to Dublin!
I went with a group of girl friends and had a blast! The best way to turn the
big 30!

22. Try Wakeboarding – I’ve tried it and LOVED it!! I found
out a local lake is all set up for wakeboarding and I went along for a lesson
and it was so much fun! I’m planning to go again this year!

23. Start an art class – didn’t manage this one but I am
dropping a few evening sessions at work this year so hoping this may be
something I can pick up then!

24. Learn to Surf – Nope, still not managed this one!

25. Learn another language – or this one…

26. Learn the ukulele– there is a local Ukulele group that
meets in the local pub, I’ve been to a few sessions now! I am really bad at
learning to play but its good fun! I’ve learnt I am just not musical!

27. Figure out some sort of career path and be happy with
whatever it may be. – Still working on this!

28. Make a drift wood coffee table – I really really want to
do this one, so its going straight onto my 40 before 40 list!

29. Read one book every month – COMPLETED!! I hope to
continue this as it’s such a fun way to relax and switch off.

30. Go to New
Zealand – I was hoping to do this in March
this year but due to a severe lack of funds it’s had to be scrapped! Gutted but
I still hope to visit one of these days!

I would say that’s about half completed, and half not
managed or still working on. I am pretty pleased with this! I’ve loved having a
few goals and working to achieve my 30 before 30, being able to tick them off
as done is such an achievement! I am now working on my 40 before 40 list! I
will post it here when I have decided on everything I want to be on there!

Do you do lists like this? Do you have any suggestions on
what should be on my next bucket list?

Sunday, 24 January 2016

Firstly, Happy New Year! I know I am so late in saying that
but as you can tell I’ve been seriously neglecting this blog lately. BUT I AM
BACK!! And as you may be able to tell I am a little excited about it! I feel
like my little blogging fire has been re-lit and can’t wait to see what this
year now has to bring!

This year I seriously want to bring the Blog Love (check out
my twitter handle @BlogLoveRT), I
seriously neglected this little space on the internet last year as I sort of
became a bit despondent with the whole blogosphere. I was finding it wasn’t a
fun network of people with a similar hobby anymore, but somewhere that had
become very bitchy and competitive. Two things that massively aren’t my cup of
tea and not what I signed up for. So I took a giant step back for a while and
put my energies into other things. I started a new job, I seriously got into
the gym (I heart weights, who knew?!) and running, which was an awesome experience,
and I finished the year with a month in Australia. 2015 was a pretty good year
for me but I have missed writing and playing in this little creative space a
lot more than I ever thought!

It feels so strange to be sat here typing away again, I feel
a little nervous as to what it may lead to but I also feel like I’ve come home.
However things are going to be a little different, as you can already see I’ve
had a ‘Lipsticks and Lashes’ has undergone a little revamp, all courtesy of the
gorgeous Hayley over at Tea Party
Beauty. I’m a little bit in love with it! I feel like it’s fresh and simple
and suits where I am at the moment. What do you all think??

I’m also not going to blog to a fixed time plan, I used to
blog 4 times a week and get myself stressed out if I didn’t blog for a few
days. Feels silly now, what’s the worst that could happen?! Some of my favourite
bloggers only post once a week, they have a great readership and I always look
forward to what they are going to post next. I think that’s how it should be! I
want to enjoy blogging not find it a burden. So I am going to blog when I fancy
doing so! I have tons of post ideas floating around my head at the moment so it
will probably be a few times a week and do you know what? I can’t wait! Expect
the usual beauty reviews, mixed up with travel posts, health and fitness, clean
eating and general positive lifestyle post. All the things that excite me!